By Sarah Thompson, W&M Libraries
The 24 Speed Filmmaking Competition, organized by the Reeder Media Center of W&M Libraries, has become a cult classic program among filmmaking-curious students and alumni.
Since 2005, student and alumni teams gather in the library and virtually to produce a 3-minute film in just 24 hours. The only requirements are that they use a prop, genre, and line of dialogue assigned by the Reeder Media Center staff.
In the early years, there were very few on-campus opportunities for hands-on experience making films. Zach Keifer ’07, helped organize the first 24 Speed when he was a student. He continues to compete in the Alumni 24 Speed today.
“I think there were four or five teams in the first year of 24 Speed,” Keifer said.
This year, 22 student teams and 17 alumni teams participated in the competition.
Through the leadership of Troy Davis, head of media services, students expect that when they step into the Reeder Media Center, they will get high quality equipment, expertise from staff, and a safe space to experiment.
“The Reeder Media Center is one way W&M Libraries invests in creating the conditions for student creativity and 24 Speed is one our signature events,” Davis explained. “It is open to all students whether they consider themselves filmmakers or not. The contest for many students is the first time they get to collaborate and explore the process of making something under specific constraints.”
24 Speed films are screened during the Ampersand International Arts Festival. The Kimball Theatre is packed with participants, friends, and Williamsburg community members. Awards are given out at the end of the screening by a panel of judges, but for most, the contest is worth more than winning.
“That's where I learned how to be a technical professional, that’s where I learned how to do sound design, where I learned how to edit,” Ted Hogeman ’09 said. “I owe my whole career to the media center.”
The love for 24 Speed and the media center from alumni like Hogeman and Keifer is unwavering. No matter how far they are from campus, they continue to participate in the Alumni 24 Speed competition.
“It's a good escape from real life and to be able to share that with other William & Mary alumni is just kind of a fun thing because you have this community that you can share it with and revisit every year,” Keifer said.
The passion and fondness for 24 Speed continues to grow and the people that were there in its humble beginnings are the contest’s biggest ambassadors.
“We’re going to be doing this in our seventies,” Zan Gillies ’09 said. “There's something so important about setting aside those 24 hours every year. This is the one day that we are always going to set aside time to have fun.”
Watch 24 Speed films from over the years on our YouTube channel.